Topology first, then the gap between the VA figure and the watt figure · review
APC BE425M, 425 VA with a wiring-fault lamp and 15 minutes at 100 W review
The lowest price on this shelf, with a runtime at a named load, a joule rating and a lamp that warns about the wiring in the wall — and neither its topology nor its waveform.
Four hundred and twenty-five volt-amperes and two hundred and fifty-five watts. The gap between those two figures is the first thing to read on any listing here, and here the ratio is 0.60: the watt figure is what the unit will actually carry, and the VA figure is the one on the box.
The second bullet does what three of the seven units on this shelf do and four do not: it names a runtime against a load. Up to fifteen minutes at 100 W, with Wi-Fi routers, modems, VoIP telephones and small home-office electronics named as what that load looks like. A runtime without a load is not a figure at all, and this one has both halves.
The third bullet splits the outlets properly: six in total, four with battery backup and surge protection, two surge-only. That distinction matters more than the count, because plugging a printer into a battery outlet is how a fifteen-minute runtime becomes four. The description adds 180 joules of surge energy rating — the lowest of the three joule figures in this group, against 190 and 490.
And then the feature the description names and the bullets do not: a Building Wiring Fault Indicator LED, which lights when the wall circuit has a wiring problem — a missing earth, a reversed live and neutral. The description claims it is a safety feature most compact units lack, and on this shelf that is true: no other listing here mentions the wiring it is plugged into. For a unit sold for apartments and dorm rooms, where the socket is somebody else’s work, it is the most useful lamp on the shelf.
What the page does not publish is the two things the intro to this section puts first. No topology: standby, line-interactive and online behave differently and cost differently, and the word Back-UPS is a product range rather than a classification. Three of the eight published listings here are in the same position. And no output waveform, so whether the battery mode produces a sine wave or a stepped approximation is unstated — which matters for a power supply with active correction, and the larger APC on this shelf names that case explicitly while this one does not.
No battery type and no replacement part is named, where four other units in this group name their cartridge by number. No communication port, so nothing tells a computer to shut down. The fourth bullet gives a wall-mountable, space-saving body at 2,595 g (91.5 oz) and 254 by 140 by 104 mm (4.09 in).
At $62.50 on October 26, 2026 it was the lowest price on this shelf by $87.04, below the Tripp Lite AVR900U at $149.54.
Prices quoted in this text were read on October 26, 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.
Where it holds up, and where it stops
Strengths
The lowest price on this shelf at $62.50 on Amazon.com on October 26, 2026
Publishes a runtime with the load it applies to — 15 minutes at 100 W — where four of the seven units on this shelf publish no runtime at all
Splits the outlets between battery and surge-only, which decides whether the runtime figure survives contact with a printer
A building wiring fault indicator that warns about the wall socket, which nothing else on this shelf mentions
Three years of warranty and a $75,000 equipment protection policy
Compromises
No topology published, which is the first thing the intro to this section says to read
No output waveform, so what the battery mode produces is unknown
No replacement battery part named, where four other American units on this shelf name theirs
No communication port, so an unattended computer will not be told to shut down
180 joules is the lowest surge rating of the three published in this group
Specifications
Topology
Not published on the listing — neither standby, line-interactive nor online appears in the title, the five bullets or the description. Back-UPS is a product range rather than a classification; the BE900G3 names standby in its description, and this page names nothing
Stated classification
Not published on the listing — no IEC classification and no VFD, VI or VFI designation appears anywhere on the page
VA rating
425 VA — stated in the first bullet and in the description. It is the figure on the box rather than the load the unit will carry
Watt rating
255 W — stated in the first bullet alongside the VA figure, which puts the ratio at 0.60. This is the figure that bounds what can actually be plugged in
Stated runtime at a named load
Up to 15 minutes at a 100 W load — stated in the second bullet, which names Wi-Fi routers, modems, VoIP telephones and small home-office electronics as that load. The BX1350M and the BE900G3 also publish one; the Smart-UPS, the Eaton and both Tripp Lite units do not
Output waveform
Not published on the listing — neither a sine wave nor a stepped approximation is named, so what the battery mode produces is unstated. The larger APC on this shelf publishes a compatibility note for actively corrected power supplies; this page does not
Socket count
Six, split — four with battery backup and surge protection, two surge-only, stated in the third bullet as well spaced. The split matters more than the count, since a printer on a battery outlet shortens the runtime
Socket type
NEMA, for a 120 V supply — implied throughout by the American market and never designated on the page. Every other unit on this shelf has NEMA outlets for a 120 V wall, except the Eaton 5S700G with IEC C13 at 230 V
Battery type
Not published on the listing — no chemistry, no voltage and no capacity in ampere-hours appears anywhere
Battery replaceability
Not published on the listing — no replacement cartridge and no part number is named, where four other American units on this shelf name theirs by number
Communication port
Not published on the listing — no USB, no serial port and no software is named, so nothing can tell a computer to shut down before the battery empties
Amazon reference
B01HDC236Q
EAN
0731304329343
On Amazon.com
Amazon.com had an offer at $63 on October 26, 2026.
Where this unit differs
Put against the median of its own group on this site — not against every network product sold.
Stated runtime at a named loadUp to 15 minutes at a 100 W load — stated in the second bullet, which names Wi-Fi routers, modems, VoIP telephones and small home-office electronics as that load. The BX1350M and the BE900G3 also publish one; the Smart-UPS, the Eaton and both Tripp Lite units do not-68 % against the median of this group
VA rating425 VA — stated in the first bullet and in the description. It is the figure on the box rather than the load the unit will carry-53 % against the median of this group
Watt rating255 W — stated in the first bullet alongside the VA figure, which puts the ratio at 0.60. This is the figure that bounds what can actually be plugged in-53 % against the median of this group
The questions that come up before an order
How long will it run?
Fifteen minutes at a 100 W load, stated in the second bullet. At a heavier load it will be less, and the 255 W figure rather than the 425 VA one is what bounds the load.
Which outlets keep working in a blackout?
Four of the six. The third bullet gives four with battery backup and surge protection and two with surge protection only.
What does the wiring fault indicator do?
It lights when the wall circuit it is plugged into has a wiring problem. The description claims most compact units lack it, and on this shelf no other listing raises the subject at all.
Against the rest of the network and storage gear
This network and storage gear share the category and the price bracket. Only what each one states is shown; an incomplete column would mislead.
Model
Price
Topology
Stated classification
VA rating
Watt rating
APC BE425M, 425 VA with a wiring-fault lamp and 15 minutes at 100 W
$63
Not published on the listing — neither standby, line-interactive nor online appears in the title, the five bullets or the description. Back-UPS is a product range rather than a classification; the BE900G3 names standby in its description, and this page names nothing
Not published on the listing — no IEC classification and no VFD, VI or VFI designation appears anywhere on the page
425 VA — stated in the first bullet and in the description. It is the figure on the box rather than the load the unit will carry
255 W — stated in the first bullet alongside the VA figure, which puts the ratio at 0.60. This is the figure that bounds what can actually be plugged in
Line-interactive — stated in the description as a line-interactive UPS system with AVR protection. The Smart-UPS and the Eaton 5S700G on this shelf are line-interactive too
Not published on the listing — no IEC classification and no VFD, VI or VFI designation appears, although the line-interactive topology and the AVR window together describe the same behavior
900 VA — stated in the title and in the first bullet
480 W — stated in the title and in the description, which puts the ratio at 0.53 — the lowest in this group, shared with the other Tripp Lite unit on this shelf. The watt figure bounds the load sooner than the VA figure suggests
Standby — stated in the description as a standby UPS system. The mains passes straight through and the unit intervenes only on failure, so there is no voltage regulation. The APC BE900G3 is the other standby unit named as such on this shelf
Not published on the listing — no IEC classification and no VFD, VI or VFI designation appears, although the standby topology describes the same behavior
850 VA — stated in the title and in the first bullet
450 W — stated in the title and in the first bullet, which puts the ratio at 0.53
What separates the models, in network and storage gear
If price decides: this model, at $63.
Highest VA rating in the table: APC BE900G3, a 6 ms transfer time and USB-C charging on the front (900 VA — stated in the title and in the first bullet. It is the figure on the box rather than the load the unit will carry).
Highest Watt rating in the table: APC BE900G3, a 6 ms transfer time and USB-C charging on the front (540 W — stated in the title and in the first bullet alongside the VA figure, which puts the ratio at 0.60).
The buyer this one serves, among network and storage gear
A router and a modem in a flat where the socket is somebody else’s work and the wiring lamp earns its keep.
What this one costs among network and storage gear
Details checked on October 26, 2026.
What buyers actually choose
Amazon reports what buyers took in the month before this page was last checked: at least 3,000.
The figure is a floor, rounded by Amazon, and read through Keepa — it says what buyers picked, not what a maker claims.
Sources
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for network and storage gear and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
topology not published · 1350 VA and 810 W · over 54 minutes at 100 W · ten NEMA outlets, five on battery · coaxial and Ethernet surge protection · AVR from 88 V, ±13 per cent · ENERGY STAR at 92 per cent · battery APCRBC123 named
The longest runtime on this shelf at over fifty-four minutes, the only efficiency figure here, and the only listing that names compatibility with an actively corrected power supply.
Best for: A desk that has to keep working through an outage rather than shut down during one, with an actively corrected power supply in the computer.
line-interactive · 1500 VA and 900 W pure sine wave · runtime not published · six NEMA 5-15R out, NEMA 5-15P in · 2U rack with rails · cloud portal with notifications and firmware · 2 years plus 2 years battery plus 1 more if registered · $150,000 cover
The only rackmount unit on this shelf, publishing a pure sine wave, its input plug as well as its outputs, and a warranty split three ways — on a page whose cloud service is free for six months in one place and two years in another.
Best for: A cabinet that already holds the switch and the network drive, where the rails, the sine wave and the remote firmware are the reasons to spend four times the money.
standby · 900 VA and 540 W · 21 minutes at 150 W, 100 minutes for network devices · eight NEMA outlets, six on battery · USB-C and USB-A at 5 V 3 A · 490 joules · transfer in 6 ms · PowerChute Serial Shutdown named · battery RBC17
The only listing on this shelf that publishes how fast it switches to battery — six milliseconds — and the only one with USB-C charging on the front.
Best for: A desktop machine and a router on the same unit, where the six-millisecond transfer and the two runtime figures are what the money is for.
